The Minnesota Timberwolves evened up their Western Conference semifinal series with the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday night. But the biggest story in the 114-109 victory in Game 4 was Victor Wembanyama’s ejection in the second quarter.
Wembanyama was called for a Flagrant Foul 2 after winding up his elbow and striking Naz Reid in the neck area in Sunday’s game. It was pretty clear it matched the criteria of "unnecessary and excessive contact committed by a player against an opponent.”
Still, Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson commended the French star for the foul as a response to the treatment he’s received from officials this series.
“I’m glad he took matters into his own hands,” Johnson said via The Athletic’s Jared Weiss. “Not in terms of hitting Naz Reid, I want to be very clear about that. I’m glad Naz Reid is okay…but [Wemby’s] going to have to protect himself if [the refs] are not."
Timberwolves fans should roll their eyes over Mitch Johnson's comments
The suggestion that Wembanyama has been a victim of officiating should have Wolves fans dying of laughter. Any fan base is going to feel like they are going to be at the wrath of officiating as long as Scott Foster and Tony Brothers are around. But the Spurs have gotten the benefit of the whistle throughout the first four games of the series.
The Wolves’ victory in Game 1 was one example when Wembanyama finished with a playoff-record 12 blocks, but several of them appeared to be goaltends.
The calls were so egregious that it caused Chris Finch to estimate Minnesota lost eight points on the non-calls and had Rudy Gobert wishing he could get the same whistle on his end of the floor.
In Game 2, the Wolves were the subject of the Foster ref show, with Jaden McDaniels landing on the bench with three fouls in the first quarter.
While Minnesota didn’t have much of a chance in a 133-95 loss, Foster’s quick whistle didn’t do it any favors and didn’t diminish his reputation as “The Extender.”
Then in Game 3, Finch nearly came to blows with Brothers as he was trying to call a timeout in the fourth quarter.
When Brothers finally granted the timeout, Finch reportedly told Brothers, “I want my three seconds back.” This caused the situation to escalate to the point where Brothers followed Finch back to his bench and had to be restrained by the Wolves' coaching staff and players.
This led to somewhat of a shock when the crew led by referee Zach Zarba actually threw Wembanyama out of Sunday’s game. But it also didn’t stop Johnson from claiming his star isn’t getting the superstar whistle he deserves.
“Every single play on every single part of the floor, people are trying to impose the physicality on you,” Johnson continued. “I get it. We get it. That’s part of the game. But at some stage, he’s got chucked, he’s gotten pushed down in transition, running freely, all the stuff. He doesn’t complain one time. We don’t complain because we’re just going to play. We don’t really give a s***, excuse my language. But at some stage he should be protected. And if not, he’s going to have to protect himself and ultimately stuff like that happens.”
A self-proclaimed master of “ethical hooping,” Wembanyama is getting his first taste of playoff basketball. It has also been interesting to see how easily a 7-foot-4 center can get knocked to the ground over the first four games.
But it’s also rich to see the Spurs complain about a “superstar whistle” when Stephon Castle (6.1 attempts) and Wembanyama (5.0 attempts) are getting more free throw attempts per game during the playoffs than Anthony Edwards (4.6 attempts).
In the end, this is likely Johnson's way of working the officials in the same way that Finch was after Game 1. And it could be something to watch as the series shifts back to San Antonio for a pivotal Game 5.
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